…but now I’m back in DC post a wintry (well, not so wintry – let’s say an almost-too-sunny) Carolina-San Francisco tour and with no meat in the fridge and a vegetarian houseguest on the way I finally have an excuse to revive the blog and an old favorite recipe at the same time with a chickpea tagine.

You can also serve with a drizzle of harissa oil, if you can locate some (for those lucky enough to be in the NC mountains, you can find some here)

the more colors the merrier

To prepare:

In a tagine or large saucepan, saute onion in oil/butter on low heat till onions are translucent.

Add garlic, chickpeas, potato, tomato, and not quite enough veggie stock or water to cover everything; add the spices and then let cook, covered, 15 minutes, on medium heat.

red, yellow, new

Add zucchini, cilantro, and lemon; adjust seasonings to taste; lower heat to medium low and cook uncovered for about fifteen minutes; then turn down heat and cook, uncovered, till most liquid has boiled off and the potatoes are done (in the last 20-25 minutes or so, monitoring the potatoes is the key to cooking everything to the right consistency: when the potatoes are done, so is everything else. Tasting potatoes is also a great opportunity to test the spices and adjust. I usually end up adding more cinnamon at this stage).

threw in some yellow squash for good measure...

Garnish with a bit of fresh cilantro and a sprinkle of pepper; serve with harissa and plain yogurt. You may want to remove your slices of lemon to make sure an unsuspecting guest doesn’t accidentally eat it…

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I study culinary history and literature in North Africa and the Arabic speaking world; this blog is a record of what happens when I put my research and passions into play at my own stove.

Many of the recipes featured here hail from the Middle East & North Africa or elsewhere in the Mediterranean, but I also love to cook anything that happens to be in season. A recipe index lists all recipes alphabetically; you can also browse by category or search for keywords below.

For less cooking and more history & literature, check out my research blog. You can read more about my work here.